Gambia’s dictator Yahya Jammeh has ordered for the detention of female Immigration officer, who have been accused of skin bleaching, the Freedom Newspaper can report. The female officers have been confined to the Tanji Immigration Training School, sources said. In a security language it is called “CONFINEMENT TO BARRACKS.” The officers have been under detention for over a month. They have been denied access to their families.

It has been gathered that a significant number of female officers were rounded up and taken to the Tanji Immigration Training School. The officers were pulled aside during a parade and whisked away to Tanji. This followed a directive issued by dictator Yahya Jammeh abolishing skin bleaching in his government.

According to sources close to the National Intelligence Agency, (NIA), dictator Jammeh has instructed the security chiefs not to release the officers until their bleached skins turned black. The officers spent the day cleaning the training school. They have also been exposed to other degrading punishment, our source added.

“Yahya Jammeh has indeed abused his office. He is violating the rights and liberties of Gambians with impunity. If a given female officer decides to bleach her skin, that’s her business. That’s none of Yahya Jammeh’s business. Female serving members of our Force have been rounded up and detained at the Tanji Immigration Training School. The world should know that Gambian women are being violated by this mad dictator,” said our source.

“What Jammeh is doing tantamount to an assault against our women folks. He is kidnapping our female officers in the name of trying to eradicate skin bleaching. Women rights groups should come to the aid of these poor serving female officers of our Force. Yahya Jammeh is imprisoning them without any court order. This is absurd! Jammeh needs to be stopped,” Our source added.

Speaking to the Freedom Newspaper, a senior Immigration officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity said the imprisonment (confinement of the female officers to barracks) followed an order the command received from Jammeh to detain female officers, who are in the business of bleaching their skin.

“We received a memo from the office of the President instructing us to dismiss female officers, who are in the habit of bleaching their skin. The memo also talks about disciplinary action to be taken against skin bleachers up termination of one’s employment with the Force. In order to punish them, the President asked us to hold the female officers hostage at the Tanji Immigration Training School. The officers wouldn’t be released until the color of their skin turn black. This is an order from the President,” said the officer.